President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Philippines: As a nation made up of over 7000 islands, rising seas due to global warming take on whole new meaning.

President Barack Obama, United States: More powerful storms and floods threaten every continent.

President Ma Ying-jeou, Formosa (Taiwan): Disasters like [Typhoon] Morakot are not that unusual now, so we have to be prepared for the worst.

President Barack Obama, United States: More frequent droughts and crop failures…

Minister Samuel Nkomo, Zimbabwe Minister of Water Resources: A few years ago in Zimbabwe we would be able to predict when the first rain will fall. But today, rains are not predictable. They fall any time. And when they do, people are swept away.

President Barack Obama, United States: On shrinking islands families are already being forced to flee their homes as climate refugees.

Secretary Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State: We know that short lived carbon forcers like methane, contribute significantly to the warming of our planet. And because they are short lived, they also give us an opportunity to make rapid progress if we work to limit them.

Senator Jamie Raskin; Maryland, USA: I’ve been seeing as a state senator the environmental costs of live stock production. It’s a source of pollutants and toxic contamination, nitrogen run off, as well as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Senator Andrew Bartlett; Former Senator of Queensland, Australia: It’s much easier to think it’s all the fault of coal miners or a power station a long way away, we can all focus the blame somewhere else and just say, “Governments got to make the change over there.” Rather than think about, “Oh well actually, you know we’ve got to make some change ourselves.” We’ve got to reduce the amount of animal products we consume. And we can do it now, you know. We don’t have to wait for government to do anything.

Senator John Kerry; Massachusetts, USA, 2004 presidential candidate; Regular citizens can do all kinds of things. Just make smart choices about the kinds of products that they buy.

Mayor Cory Booker; Newark, New Jersey, USA: Fresh fruits and vegetables, organic food, and we believe that if people are given an abundance of healthy choices, they will make the right choice.

Senator Jamie Raskin; Maryland, USA: Because I know that environmentally it’s the right thing to do. I know in terms of health it’s the right thing to do. And ethically it’s the right thing to do.

First Lady Michelle Obama, United States: By making this small change in our family’s diets and adding more fresh fruits and vegetables, Barack, the girls, me, we all started to notice over a very short period of time that we felt much better, and we had more energy.

Mayor Amelita Navarro; Santiago, Philippines: And really inducing all the people to go vegetarian. To Be Veg, Go Green to Save the Planet.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, United Kingdom: This is the moment now to limit and reverse the climate change we are inflicting on future generations. Not later, not at another conference, not in a later decade.

Governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán; Veracruz, Mexico: To save the planet is to save ourselves, to save our lives and that of all other living beings.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon: This is new a fresh dynamics which we must seize! I sincerely hope that we can seize this momentum!

Minister Linas Karalius – Minister of Parliament, Lithuania: I think if all the governments of all the countries will work together to promote the meatless style of living it will definitely save the planet.